Austin Rivers Leaves Duke For The NBA

Almost everyone in sports has an opinion about the Duke Blue Devils. Like the Yankees in baseball and the Patriots in football, Coach K runs a polarizing “love ‘em or hate ‘em” program, and if you hate ‘em, well, this has been a good week for you. After putting up 19 points in Duke’s stunning 1st round loss to 15th seeded Lehigh, guard Austin Rivers has announced that he will hire an agent and declare for the NBA draft.

Rivers’ decision comes as a surprise to many, and it perpetuates an interesting new trend of one-and-done players for Duke Basketball. Austin Rivers is the son of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers and many expected, given his family’s financial security and Coach K’s record of retaining his freshman players that Austin would remain in Durham for a second season. By leaving, Rivers becomes only the 4th player to exit Duke for the NBA after just one season, following directly behind NBA Rookie of the Year favorite Kyrie Irving, who made the early jump last year.

Austin averaged over 15 points a game for the Blue Devils this season and is expected to be drafted in the middle of the first round.